Perhaps Sunday night’s sudden deep chill that descended on the path around the Falls was Mother Nature’s way of getting residents in the spirit for Ice Bowl II, if that is to be the situation Sunday as the Dallas Cowboys return to Lambeau Field when the Packers host the next round of the NFL playoffs.
That last post-season Lambeau Field meeting between the two teams took place 48 years ago. It was the stuff of which legends are made. We would note that was before significant expansion of the stadium, yet it seems that we have heard at least 100,000 people who claimed to have been there. If Bart Starr’s health would allow, it would be particularly memorable if he could be out there for the coin toss.
No doubt, there will be a good number of fans in the stands who actually were at the Ice Bowl. Many of them will have stories to retell Sunday and will be the center of attention. This almost half-century-later reunion between the teams and their fans might warrant some media attention.
The forecast suggests the temperatures may get into the 20s, which will seem balmy compared to the thermometer reading at the first Ice Bowl and the temperatures we experienced early this week.
The dip in the temperature Monday caused a few schools to cancel classes and several more to have a two-hour late start. Ironically, last year the holiday break was extended by two days due to the cold. This year, the extension was for only two hours in the Oconto Falls Area Schools. The delay allowed for a smoother transition from the vacation mindset to the routine of the regular school year.
For many people, the holiday break allowed for lots of time with relatives and early winter renewal. I pushed the travel and relative thing quite hard, with family holiday gatherings in three states and a wedding in yet one more state. Bonding is good, and the gas prices were not too bad, either.
The wedding was in St. Louis and a bit unusual, with the ring ceremony in a greenhouse of a nature conservatory. Apparently that is a popular venue and remains set up for similar events.
As tradition has it, the presider over the ceremony had several points of advice for the young couple. Among those was this nugget, “When you enter into a marriage, don’t focus on changing the other person, focus on being happy.” Ultimately, this is very good advice.
While one partner may have all the good intentions in the world, changing another person to fit that ideal vision might be more work than it is worth. It might make more sense to make the best of who you are and be happy with the situation. A lot can be said for setting oneself up for success, and some goals turn out to be impossible.
Building on that concept of the relationship between two people, I am in the process of reading a best seller “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.” It’s a great read about organization leadership and the importance of building relationships.
An early point made by the authors is that the relationship between two people is significantly strengthened when they create something together. In a marriage the obvious creation is a child, but there are many other situations in marriage and other settings where other things are created. The synergy that comes from building or making something is powerful. There is joint pride in doing or accomplishing something that could not be done individually.
Taken to the education setting, there was a time when a common teacher admonition was “Do this by yourself,” or “Don’t look at anyone else’s paper.” That is heard less often in today’s classrooms. Research has supported the idea that in many situations partner learning can be more effective than approaching the same learning activity on an individual basis.
Working as partners rather than as competitors can result in greater accomplishment in the real world outside the walls of our classrooms. Preparing young people for the real world is our goal.
The real world reality is that Sunday’s contest between the Cowboys and Packers will not be under as brisk of conditions as the first Ice Bowl. Even so, we would hope that the contest is one in which Aaron Rodgers and each of his receivers can bond and create a really powerful experience on the frozen or not-so-frozen tundra.
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